"We are the children of conflict. That shaped our minds," said Shahid Mohammed Lon, 22. "I've seen people butchered before me by Indian troops. I see that India is not my friend."
His dormitory mates nodded in agreement as they sat around talking on the leafy campus of the University of Kashmir.
They nodded even more vigorously when Lon, a mass-communications major, explained that, for members of his generation, those slogans of the '90s that demanded unification with Muslim brothers and sisters in Pakistan have given way to shouts for full-blown independence.
That is anathema to the leaders of both India and Pakistan. But such a scenario may not be so unacceptable to the Indian and Pakistani public. In a rare survey of attitudes toward Kashmir on either side of the de facto border, a U.S.-based polling firm reported this month that only 35% of Indians and 11% of Pakistanis would oppose independence if the majority of Kashmiris wanted it.
Despite the more peaceful atmosphere these days, it is difficult to find anyone here who is content with the status quo.
"We can't stay in an environment like this. Change is necessary. You cannot stay in an occupied land," said Maroosha Muzaffar, 23.
"It's up to youth to come out and stage protests and change things for themselves," she added. "They have the passion. They have the energy."
The recent land protests were a timely vehicle for channeling that energy. The uproar centered on the state government's decision to transfer 99 acres of land to a Hindu trust that runs a pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine in southern Kashmir, where a giant ice stalagmite inside a cave is worshiped as a symbol of the god Shiva. Each year, thousands make the pilgrimage during a two-month period in the summer to see the stalagmite as it waxes. The land was to be used for rest stops and other facilities for pilgrims.
To many Kashmiris, for whom land is a highly emotive aspect of local identity, the transfer was too much. Some suspected a government plot to bring more Hindus to Kashmir to dilute its Muslim majority. Environmentalists also opposed the move.
The strength of the ensuing protests, which erupted in mid-June and continued for two weeks, took many aback, including the demonstrators themselves, who turned out in numbers not seen since the 1990s. Hindu activists mounted counter-protests after the government decided July 1 to rescind the land grant.
